Plate tectonics involves the horizontal movement and interaction of large plates on the earth’s surface. Shifting plate tectonics, thought to be necessary for the creation of a habitable planet, did not occur on Earth 3.9 billion years ago, new research indicates. Credit: University of Rochester illustration / Michael Osadciw A multi-institution team has found evidence … Read more
In September 2022, NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test, or DART, made history when it crashed into an asteroid and demonstrated that a kinetic impact could redirect a space rock on a collision course with Earth. The DART mission also sent groundbreaking images to Earth of the rubble-strewn surface of its target, Dimorphos, a small moon … Read more
The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected the most distant active supermassive black hole to date. The galaxy that hosts the ancient black hole, CEERS 1019, formed quite early in the history of the universe, just 570 million years after the Big Bang. The active supermassive black hole at the center of CEERS 1019 … Read more
An artist composition of the Milky Way seen through a neutrino lens (blue). | Credits: IceCube Collaboration/US National Science Foundation (NSF) (Lily Le and Shawn Johnson)/ESO (S. Brunier). The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has produced an image of the Milky Way using neutrinos. The groundbreaking image is the first of its kind and provides critical evidence … Read more
The staggering growth in Starlink collision avoidance maneuvers over the past six months is raising concerns about the long-term sustainability of satellite operations as thousands of new spacecraft are set to be launched into orbit over the next few years. SpaceX‘S Stellar connection broadband satellites were forced to detour more than 25,000 times between Dec. … Read more
An artist’s illustration of the Starlink satellites above the LOFAR array. The hum of onboard electronics that power SpaceX’s Starlink satellites could be disrupting radio astronomy observations, according to a new study. Experts have long warned about how astronomy suffers from megaconstellations of satellites in low Earth orbit such as SpaceX‘S Stellar connection. The stripes … Read more
A giant planet twice the mass of Jupiter has been detected after previous searches failed to find it. The planet was expected to unfurl swirling arms within the protoplanetary disk around a very young star, but was missed because its light is at unexpectedly long wavelengths. Just as the discovery of the planets solves the … Read more
New research has examined how the human brain reacts to space travel, indicating that astronauts would have to wait about three years after long space missions for their brains to fully recover. The research analyzed the brain scans of 30 astronauts and revealed significant ventricle expansion in those who underwent missions of six months or … Read more
A study of the world’s oldest rocks provides evidence that plate tectonic-driven recycling may not have begun until several hundred years after the formation of the Earth. The authors admit their findings aren’t conclusive, but if they’re right, they have big implications for what it takes to keep life going. The fact that Earth is … Read more
Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, now stands on the grounds of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in California, where a statue of her was unveiled Tuesday (July 4) as part of an Independence Day celebration. Members of the Ride family, including 99-year-old mother Joyce, helped reveal the larger-than-life tribute, which is … Read more
